Giovanni Battista Scalabrini

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Scalabrini

Giovanni Battista Scalabrini (born July 8, 1839 in Fino Mornasco , Province of Como , Italy ; † June 1, 1905 in Piacenza ) was Bishop of Piacenza and founder of the Italian emigrant pastoral care . In 1997 he was beatified .

Life

Giovanni Battista Scalabrini was born the third of eight sons of the wine merchant Luigi Scalabrini and his wife Colomba Trombetta and received his school and seminar training in Como . He was ordained a priest on May 30, 1863 . Initially he was a teacher at the San Abondio seminary in Como; In 1868 he was appointed its rector. Then he was parish priest in Como. On December 13, 1875, Pope Pius IX appointed him . to the Bishop of Piacenza.

Bishop of Piacenza

As bishop he took on pastoral care above all , with particular concern for the poor and the deaf . He visited the sick in the hospitals and the prisoners in the penal institutions. He visited all 365 parishes of his diocese on the occasion of pastoral visits in the course of his episcopate at least five times, namely the parishes of the city of Piacenza in winter, the surrounding areas in spring and the 200 parishes in the mountains in summer and autumn. During the severe famine in 1879 he set up a poor kitchen in the bishop's house, which he u. a. financed by the sale of liturgical equipment . In numerous pastoral letters he dealt with the pressing social needs, as well as with the three diocesan synods that he convened after - contrary to the canonical regulations - no diocesan synod had taken place since 1723 .

The "father of the emigrants"

During his visits to the parishes, Bishop Scalabrini heard again and again how many of their residents had been forced to emigrate from poverty and hunger . After his first pastoral visit, he took stock: In the diocese of Piacenza there were 28,000 people who had left their homeland, more than a tenth of the population. He studied the social, cultural and religious consequences of the emigration of hundreds of thousands of Italians to America. In 1887 he therefore founded the Congregazione dei Missionari per gli emigrati italiani , the "Congregation of Missionaries for Italian Emigrants". The after its founder also Scalabriniani called Fathers were sent to the pastoral care among Italian emigrants overseas and founded Italian-speaking parishes. In 1888 a first group of Scalabriniani missionaries traveled to the USA and Brazil . In 1895 Scalabrini founded a female congregation, the Congregazione delle Suore Missionarie di San Carlo Borromeo per gli emigrati , the "Congregation of the Missionary Sisters of St. Charles Borromeo for the emigrants", also called Scalabriniane after its founder . In 1901 he traveled to North America himself and reported to Pope Leo XIII. immediately upon returning from his experiences. In 1904 another trip to several South American countries followed. Important for the development of his theological and pastoral program was his friendship with Geremia Bonomelli (1831–1914, Bishop of Cremona since 1871), with whom he was in close contact from 1868.

His tomb is in the Piacenza Cathedral .

beatification

The beatification process began in 1936; In 1997 Giovanni Battista Scalabrini was beatified by Pope John Paul II . He is considered the patron saint of emigrants.

literature

Footnotes

  1. ^ Icilio Felici: The father of the emigrants Giovanni Battista Scalabrini . P. 17f.
  2. ^ Icilio Felici: The father of the emigrants Giovanni Battista Scalabrini . P. 21.
  3. ^ Icilio Felici: The father of the emigrants Giovanni Battista Scalabrini . P. 47f.
  4. ^ Icilio Felici: The father of the emigrants Giovanni Battista Scalabrini . P. 34.
  5. ^ Icilio Felici: The father of the emigrants Giovanni Battista Scalabrini . P. 41.
  6. ^ Icilio Felici: The father of the emigrants Giovanni Battista Scalabrini . P. 40.
  7. ^ Icilio Felici: The father of the emigrants Giovanni Battista Scalabrini . P. 88.
  8. ^ Icilio Felici: The father of the emigrants Giovanni Battista Scalabrini . P. 109.
  9. ^ Icilio Felici: The father of the emigrants Giovanni Battista Scalabrini . P. 122 (USA) and p. 124-127 (Brazil).
  10. ^ Icilio Felici: The father of the emigrants Giovanni Battista Scalabrini . P. 139f.
  11. ^ Icilio Felici: The father of the emigrants Giovanni Battista Scalabrini . Pp. 131-133.
  12. ^ Icilio Felici: The father of the emigrants Giovanni Battista Scalabrini . P. 97.

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predecessor Office successor
Antonio Ranza Bishop of Piacenza
1876 - 1905 		Giovanni Maria Pellizzari
personal data
SURNAME Scalabrini, Giovanni Battista
BRIEF DESCRIPTION Theologian, bishop and founder of an order
DATE OF BIRTH July 8, 1839
PLACE OF BIRTH Fino Mornasco
DATE OF DEATH June 1, 1905
Place of death Piacenza